Career Exploration Trips: Connect Employers, Alumni, and

Students Scott Feeny

Jacqueline AckermanIU SPEA

Overview

• Description• “Requirements”• Benefits• Costs• Pre• Post• Resources• Closing

Description• Need• Origin• Big picture• Format– Panels

• Tracks– Site visits– Evening networking event (colloquium/keynote)– Opt-in/out, but always on-time

• Examples

Requirements• Alumni/employer contacts information• Location, alumni/employer hub• Conference space*• Budget for travel, buy-in• Timing pros/cons considerations• Template emails• Liability form assistance*• Is there a need?

Benefits• Connect students to employers/alumni (vice

versa)• Connect career services with employers/alumni (vice versa)• Students “experience” a city• Staff learns from “horse’s mouth”• High-profile/ marketable event

Costs 1

• Student– Travel– Food/meals– Attire– Business cards/ resumes– Time• Pre/during/post

Costs 2• Staff’s time (opportunity cost)– Student assistant’s wage/time

• Travel/accommodations/per diem for staff• Conference space• Evening networking • Promotional /signage/ nametags/ table tents, etc.

Pre 1• Budget• Facility reservations• Partner w/ alumni affairs/assoc on-campus and in

city• Develop mock itinerary• Outreach to alumni/employers• Student callout meeting• Reminders• Solicit students for suggestions*• Student registration

Pre 2• Trip Listserv• Special advising hours• Reminders• Invite alumni in visiting city to networking event• Collect bios, assign contacts to panels • Confirmations• Student prep tips, research employer bios• Develop evaluation• Collect resumes for virtual resume book• Reminders

Post

• Send student evaluations• Thank yous• Document relationships• Brag• Follow-up w/ alumni/ employers leads

Resources 1• From: Mahaffey, Cathy L On Behalf Of Reingold, David A.

Sent: Wednesday, March 02, 2011 1:57 PMTo: BL-SPEA-All Bloomington Fac-StaffSubject: Congratulations to the Office of Career Services

and Alumni Relations!• • Colleagues:• • Congratulations to the Office of Career Services and Alumni Relations for their recent success with SPEA’s

Chicago Career Exploration Trip (2/24-2/25). • • Under the direction of Scott Feeny and Jennifer Dawson Payton, the two-day event connected 40+ students

(20 UGs; 20 Grads), with SPEA alumni and employers through:• • o 10 industry-focused panels, with 40+ panelists, including the Heartland Alliance, the EPA, Crowe Horwath,

and many more – see link for more info;• • o 4 site visits, including Standard & Poors, Shedd Aquarium, and the City of Chicago - Office of the Mayor and

the Department of Environment;•

Resources 2• o an Alumni Reception/Networking Event which attracted an additional 50+ alumni, including a keynote address

presented by Lydia Murray (MPA ’95), former deputy chief of staff to outgoing Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley. The event was standing room only and provided lively debate on Chicago politics and the future of the City.

• • This event was the second of two successful career exploration trips, the first taking place in Washington, DC (1/3-

1/5). The Washington, DC Trip had a similar format as the Chicago Trip with 17 industry-focused panels and 4 site visits, connecting 35+ students (30 Grads; 5 UGs) with 50+ panelists and an additional 70+ alumni at the networking event – see link for more info.

• • These events enable students to meet with established SPEA alumni, learning about their personal career paths

and their employers. Panelists give our students tips for success, advice on how to best utilize their time while in SPEA, and also help students develop a professional network.

• • If you have suggestions for future panelists or questions about the career exploration trips, please see Scott Feeny,

IU SPEA Assistant Director of Employer Relations (sfeeny@indiana.edu). If you have suggestions for alumni events please contact Jennifer Dawson Payton, Director of Alumni Relations (jdawson@indiana.edu).

• • • DR

• (DR = Dean Reingold)

Resources 3

• Pics• Callout meeting ppt• Release forms• DC & Chicago itineraries• Sample panelist invite letter• Sample panelist bio• Sample emails sent through listserv

Closing

• Files/Examples/Templates– Coming soon to cdpi.org

• Questions– Scott Feeny– sfeeny@indiana.edu– 812.855.7455